


Braving the Cold

by Rachel_Lu



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Cold, Cold Weather, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cutesy, F/M, Huddling For Warmth, I Love You
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-11 06:40:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5617183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel_Lu/pseuds/Rachel_Lu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor and Rose have to spend the night in a cabin when they lose the TARDIS in a snowstorm</p>
            </blockquote>





	Braving the Cold

She'd been shivering for about two hours, the cold of the barren planet cutting into her like knives.  Her arms were wrapped around herself, her nose tucked into her scarf.  The Doctor walked next to her, looking very guilty. 

"I'm sorry, Rose, there's a cabin close." 

"S'okay," she said around her chattering teeth, "It's not your fault."

"It is, though," he sighed, wrenching her fingers out from around herself and twining their hands together before shoving them into his pocket.  She fit her other hand in her pocket and moved as close as she could to his side.  

"You're not cold?" She asked, feeling her ribs starting to shake with the chill. 

"No, Time Lord biology," he said, but he punctuated it with a shiver.

Instead of drawing attention to it, she squeezed his hand.  "Maybe we'd better try to get to that cabin a little bit faster."

"We'll find the TARDIS tomorrow," he promised her, "I can send her a signal, just not during this storm."

"Alright," Rose agreed, looking around at their surroundings.  It was all blanketed white, snow falling around them, a whirling storm. They would get caught in a snowstorm, that was so very _them._ She was also trying very hard not to get angry with him, which was harder to do by the second.  Her cheeks stung with the cold and she almost wanted to curl up in the snow and fall asleep.

"You've got to keep walking, you can do it," the Doctor said encouragingly, "We're close, there, Rose, look."

It had been a very normal day, they'd been here to explore the wasteland that had been pretty much evacuated because the life forms had gotten sick of the snow.  Rose, on the other hand, very much wanted to see snow, and that had been fine until they'd lost track of the TARDIS.

Luckily, her clever Doctor knew exactly where there was a cabin.  Very 'cabin-in-the-woods' minus the woods, of course.  If there were woods, Rose probably wouldn't be being pelted with so much ice.  She curled into the Doctor more and more as they walked until they were almost tripping over each other's feet as they got to safety.

She saw the cabin before them, and, now having a goal, she sped up.  "Come on, come on," she hissed, unable to pretend she was feeling safe and fine anymore.  She could practically feel the Doctor's guilt from beside her, but he kept close to her as though he was trying to keep her warm through all the sopping layers of their clothes. 

The Doctor was ready to kick the door in by the time they got to it, but it was unlocked, of course it was, no one was on the planet but them, and he ushered her in before entering himself and slamming the door behind them.  "Alright, we'll get warmed up, that sound good, Rose?  Rose?"

She turned, shivering violently, and nodded. "Yeah, good."

"I'm going to start a fire," he said as he pulled his sopping wet, heavy overcoat off.  He started to dig in his jacket pocket up to the elbow and pulled out two small bags.  "One has pajamas for you, one for me," he explained.

She gave him a curious look, and he colored deeply and looked away from her.  Rubbing the back of his neck, he shrugged, "You know, just in case something were to happen and we were in a.... Well, a situation like this.  The one with the roses on it is yours."

"I gathered," she smiled.  She walked up to him and took it from his hand before kissing him on the cheek and heading off to find somewhere to change.  

He couldn't help watching her go and grinning to himself as he set up a fire.  It provided the only light, as night was falling around them.  Still in his wet clothes, he started the fire while grumbling about not being able to use the sonic.  When Rose came out he was just getting it started.  She sat down on the big, fluffy couch behind him.  "You're still in your wet clothes," she said softly. 

The Doctor whipped around as though she'd scared him.  "Ah, yes, I suppose that would be best, to... To get changed."

He seemed to be following any lead she had, for he pressed a hurried kiss to her cheek before dodging from the room.

Rose giggled and pulled a quilt down from the top of the sofa, trying to warm herself. She still felt chilled to the bone and was hoping that the Doctor would be interested in a cuddle.  Sharing body heat would probably do them a world of good. 

Luckily for her, that seemed to be exactly what the Doctor intended.  He came out of the room he'd changed in, threw his wet clothes on the floor in front of the fire, and lifted the blanket she was under before getting in beside her.  

She immediately cuddled into his side and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tugging her against him.  She could feel him shivering and as a result, threw her legs over his lap and tugged the blanket up higher around both of them.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor whispered, his cheek leaned onto her head.  

"It's fine," she promised him, not able to stay angry when he was obviously feeling so guilty.  "We're safe, it's alright."

"You could've gotten hypothermia, or frostbite," he said darkly.

"But I didn't."

"But you could've."

"Don't do that."

"What?" 

"Make everything some big issue," Rose said, "We were in danger, now we're safe, the both of us, and that's all.  Got it?"  

He squeezed her gratefully.  "Got it," he murmured.

"Not everything is your fault, and sometimes you forget that," Rose continued, now on a tangent of her own. 

The Doctor sniffed next to her.  "A lot of things are."

"You can't blame yourself for everything after Gallifrey, that is not your responsibility," Rose said sharply.

Somehow, the sound of his planet's name rolling off her tongue made him shiver.  She squeezed him tighter, probably thinking he was cold.  Quite the opposite, now that he was wrapped up in Rose Tyler.  Nothing could be better.

"I'm just trying to protect everyone," he responded.

"Yeah, but you can't do that."

She was clever.  Dead clever.  Maybe the thought of that was what made him duck his head and press a harsh kiss to her mouth before turning away quickly.

Rose sat in stunned silence for a moment.  "Doctor?" She whispered.

"Sorry," he blurted, though he didn't remove himself from her.  "I'm sorry, I shouldn't've-"

"-More of your guilt complex!" Rose said, and after a bit of awkward shuffling was straddling his lap.  "Have you ever considered that maybe you _deserve_  something?"

He furrowed his brows at her even as his hands came up to hold her waist.  "Not you," he said as though it were a vow.  

"You could, if you stop cutting yourself down at every opportunity," Rose replied, her hands fiddling with the fabric at his shoulders.  "You shouldn't live a life of unhappiness because of things you think you did wrong."

"We're not talking about our friendship anymore, are we?" He asked quietly.

She rocked forward into his lap and his head hit the back of the couch.  She grinned.  "Nope."

"What makes you think you can fix me?" He asked, his eyes still closed.

She traced her fingers over his face.  "I don't," she whispered, "I want to carry the burden with you."

He didn't even bother opening his eyes as he leaned forward and kissed her again, realizing what she wanted to be to him and realizing that was exactly what he wanted.  His arms wrapped fully around her, pulling her closer, reveling in the warm touch of her underneath his hands.  Suddenly, he wanted her skin, and slipped his hands underneath her pajama top. 

Rose let her hands drift into his hair, holding him against her.  

"Stop me now or I won't be able to," he said quickly as he pulled away from her.  

She wrenched him forwards again.  "Don't you dare."

**

Much later, they'd found themselves on the floor in front of the fire, Rose draped over the Doctor and the blanket draped over both of them. 

She traced her fingers over his chest, staring into the flames.  "I suppose you know, then," she said softly, as though she were afraid that he would actually hear her.

"What's that, Rose?" He asked, his hands flexing against her back.

"That I love you," She whispered. 

Her whispering of it, like it was a secret for both of them to share, made it feel sacred.  He closed his eyes, basking in the words, the feeling of her settled over him.  A soft smile graced his face.  "I love you, too."


End file.
